Modeling of plasma spraying of two powders

The behavior of metal and ceramic powders co-sprayed through a plasma jet was simulated using a commercial fluid dynamics model in which the particles are considered as discrete Langrangian entities. Computations were carried out for the plasma jet and the injected particles using (a) a steady-state three-dimensional (3-D) jet and (b) a simplified two-dimensional (2-D) model. An analytical method was used to estimate the appropriate injection velocities for the metal and ceramic particles, injected through opposing nozzles perpendicular to the plasma flow, so that their “mean” trajectories would impinge on the same area on the target surface. Comparison of the model projections with experimental measurements showed that this method of computation can be used to predict and control the behavior of particles of widely different properties.